The Breeders hit the Twin Cities in support of their brand new album All Nerve this Sunday. Touring in support of The Breeders is Chicago based Melkbelly. Tickets for their First Avenue visit are still available HERE
No question Dayton, OH native Kim Deal was an early pioneer of the alternative rock scene as bass player for The Pixies. During a brief Pixies hiatus in 1989, Deal teamed up with Throwing Muses lead guitar player Tanya Donnelly to record a couple of demos. These were submitted to their mutual label, 4AD. When the sound received the label’s support, Deal formed The Breeders alongside twin sister Kelly and bassist Josephine Wigg. Both women are part of the band’s current line-up.
The early 90’s saw The Breeders remain in limbo as Deal returned to her duties with the slowing Pixies. When the band announced a formal hiatus, Deal relaunched The Breeders. Drummer Jim MacPherson was added and the band returned to the studio to record the critically acclaimed Last Splash in 1993. Last Splash went platinum and put the band solidly in the limelight as a new rock chapter was making itself felt. They hit the road with Nirvana on the In Utero world tour before headlining Lallapalooza in 1994.
However, commercial success along with drug and alcohol issues made for a volatile combination. The Breeders were effectively done before the year was out. It was a long 8 years for the Deal sisters to come to grips with some of the excesses of that early notoriety. In 2002 the third Breeders album Title TK hit the streets.
The early 2000’s saw sporadic activity from the Deal sisters as they put their lives in order and curated music festivals. They were the subject of a documentary and made cameo TV appearances as the house band in an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. However, the music bug eventually had the twins back in the studio. The Breeders released Mountain Battles in 2008. In 2012, there was a push to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Last Splash. Fences mended, both Donnelly and MacPherson returned to the fold and the LSXX tour circled the globe.
A little older, a lot more grounded, the magic that was The Breeders has returned. With some backing help from the likes of Courtney Barnett, All Nerve has met with critical success and is now the basis of the 2018 tour. Expect to hear selections from the new album as well as a retrospective of a career that has spanned nearly 30 years from a band that’s carved out a legacy of originality.
